ABSTRACT
The story of cultivated plants begins with the time and place of domestication, which not only reveals the environment in which this important measure was taken but also throws light on economic and social environments which led to the present stage of our civilization. The study of ancient grains and other plant materials associated with them help in tracing the history of crops, associated useful plants, and weeds. It also provides historical background to the origin and spread of agriculture. The man-plant relationship during the prehistoric and protohistoric periods has been reconstructed mostly on the evidence of plant remains recovered from archaeological excavations. In 1983, with the financial support of University Grants Commission, New Delhi, the research project ‘Palaeoethnobotanical investigations of plant remains recovered from archaeological sites of Kashmir’ commenced. The introductory investigations provided a fair impression of the archaeological plant remains, such as diversity of plant species and concentration and preservation of seeds, fruits, and woods.
